


Light and Shadow

by Arvalee Knight (AvaWhiteRaven), AvaWhiteRaven



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-03-31 11:13:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13973883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaWhiteRaven/pseuds/Arvalee%20Knight, https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaWhiteRaven/pseuds/AvaWhiteRaven
Summary: A growing spike in crime has caught the attention of the local police. People have gone missing and a recent murder proves it isn’t the usual suspects. You’re tasked with going undercover but find yourself in a not so... typical operation.





	1. Chapter 1

He was always late. The coffee always sucked. And meetings always took longer than you ever wanted them too. Actually, fuck meetings. Everything said at meetings were better sent in emails. And mornings. Who the hell decided that waking up before the sun was a good idea? Fuck them too.

“Detective. Bright and cheery as usual.” Jihoon sipped out of his cup while waking by, barely paying you much attention. “Recent murder got you down?”

You sat slouched in your desk chair, arms folded and fingers digging into the leather of your jacket. “I rolled out of bed for this meeting and the boss isn’t even here yet…”

He sat down at his desk and wiggled the computer’s mouse. He finally glanced about the office and then you. “I heard this case is a big one… Serial murders and kidnappings throughout the city. We might be hunting down a real monster.” He smirked at that, cocky and arrogant as always.

Woosik glowered over the top of his monitor from the head of the walkway. “That’s nothing to be happy about. Those are the worst cases…” Being chief after years of working as a detective, he was very familiar with monsters. Although, the man didn’t know shit about hygiene. You saw him walking down the hall a few times brushing his teeth on the way to his desk.

Your eyes narrowed, vision settling on Minjun across the room who was hard at work. He was always hard af work. Minjun was smart, all brains and all serious. In fact, you weren’t even sure the man knew the definition of a joke.

Your team was fairly small so why would they call you in? Murders and missing persons wasn’t an unusual task to handle but something of this scale required manpower...

“Conference room. Now.” Wonhae walked past, steps hard-pressed and stern. He was the superintendent, the boss man, the one who kept everyone’s wheels turning. He had seen some of the darkest individuals and the bloodiest, coldest crimes during his career.

Your team jumped to their feet and followed at his heels into the confernce room. Once the door was shut and everyone fell into their usual seats, the files were laid out for everyone’s eyes to see.

Minjun opened the folder without missing a best and pulled out the stack of pictures and paperwork.

“The body of a woman was located three nights ago. She was drugged and held captive. She appeared to have escaped her capturer at some point and ran through the mountain side and died along a river bank. Rangers found her days later and reported her to the police.”

You sifted through the pictures, noting the bruises on her wrists from perhaps being bound. Her body was covered in scrapes and leaves, dirt staining her attire. She fell down multiple times during her run. Her knees were torn to shreds, feet too. The blow to the head must have happened during her run… maybe the river did it to her. Or someone did…

She was still dressed in her normal attire or at least what looked like normal attire. You could only assume she was taken care of until her escape. Either she escaped or her capturer let her go… Maybe it was a fun game?

“Our analysts spent the past two days gathering information and made a connection to other cases through Korea.” Wonhae pressed his hands flat onto the long conference table, everyone’s eyes on him. “She’s not the first. Others have gone missing, men and women alike.”

Minjun shifted in his seat, fingers pressed into his skull. “Kidnapping takes a lot of work… Do we know if they were taken from their homes?”

You read her file. She wasn’t your typical high risk target, someone with a higher chance of becoming a victim. She worked in an office and her bank statements proved she lived a modest lifestyle…

You stated casually, “She lived alone. Work reported her missing. Not her family. We can ask the neighbors if they saw anything.”

Wonhae’s voice took on a harder edge, “This is most likely the work of sex trafficking. They drug their targets, hold them, and sell them… something went wrong with their latest asset and now we’ve got their scent. We’ll hunt them down and show them what it feels like to be prey.”

He always was one for the dramatic…

You sat up straighter and nursed your pounding migraine. God, you hated mornings. “Do we have an idea of where they were holding her? Surely the rangers might have some clue.”

“She didn’t come from any one trail and the river may have carried her. It’s a large park. Not much out there.” He took hold of the bagged phone and slid it your way. “This, however, gave us…” He gave an annoyed groan. “A look into their world.”

You held the phone in your hands but it looked busted. If it worked, she might have called for help… unless the signal was shit in the mountains.

You tossed it back onto the table. “Did the tech analysts find something?”

“An app. It was installed onto the phone but it was never used. It was placed their after her phone was hacked. It’s been too hard to decrypt. That’s why… I need an agent to go undercover.”

Damn it. That’s why they were bothering your team. You ducked your head away. You stood up and headed towards the door. “I’m gonna need more coffee…”

“You’re trained in this field. One of the best. You took down an entire ring—”

“I’ll do it. Damn.” You laughed irritably. “Just let me get some coffee before we talk logistics, boss.” You stepped out the door and poured a cup as they continued the meeting.

Jihoon chuckled and he leaned back in his chair. “So what are we thinking here? I can check with some of my informants and see if they know anyone who might be interested in selling people.”

Woosik finally spoke up, “If she’s the first to escape… they’re most likely skilled and familiar with this sort of crime. They know the ins and outs of taking someone unseen and keeping them quiet.”

You sauntered back in with your coffee mug and took down a large swallow. “Organized, ballsy, and… good with tech scams. We’re not dealing with some upstarts. This has got to be a practiced gang.”

Minjun nodded his head in agreement. “Let’s get our system set up then. I’ll get Seohyun to download the app onto a phone. We can start from there.”

“I’ll get the files organized and hung up.” You took another large swallow of coffee. “Let’s focus on the body we found. There’s far too many missing people for us to track down… and we can’t be sure if they’re related to our case or not.”

“One more thing...” Wonhae stood straighter, head held higher as his lips thinned. He didn’t look forward to spilling this bit of information, “This case remains in this room between the members of this team...”

Woosik spoke darkly, “You mean... some of your own might be involved?”

You all watched him give a slow, minor nod. The room grew tense, very few of the team willing to make eye contact. Woosik broke the silence though, ordering everyone to get to work.

They all went their separate ways. Even Wonhae hadn’t stopped to ask if you were alright with the undercover mission. He knew you would agree to it. You hated it but… sometimes it was the best way to infiltrate a practiced gang.

Going undercover was dangerous. The only person you had to rely on was yourself. If something went sideways, you had to improvise to save your own life. Sometimes, you had to do things you weren’t proud of.

Your training consisted of different backgrounds. You worked military operations and then joined the police force years later. Solving crimes for your community could be just as dangerous… but it felt like it was the right thing to do.

You set up the conference room for the upcoming operation. Seohyun brought in her computers, setting them up in the corner of the room. Minjun gladly helped out. Anything to do with computers and data was right up his alley.

Jihoon and Woosik left the station to do some leg work. They wanted to see first hand what sort of life the victim was living. Maybe people who knew her might share some dark secrets now that she was dead.

“Alright…” Seohyun held up a smart phone and smirked. “I’ve got the app downloaded onto your new phone. I also set up your identity. My favorite: lonely office worker looking for love.”

You snorted but took the phone anyway. “We sure this is going to work?”

She shrugged her shoulder. “Won’t know until we find out. I haven’t been able to get past the security wall without being spotted so…”

You nodded. “I’m on my own then…”

Wonhae’s deep voice drew everyone’s attention. “You know how to handle yourself but I’ll say this anyway… keep your eyes peeled and keep us updated.”

You opened up the app, Mystic Messenger… Even the name sounded fishy. Someone with the username Unknown sent the first message.

Minjun was standing at your side, eyes sharp to every detail. He had a damn good memory. “I can’t believe girls fall for this…”

You huffed in agreement. Unknown was wanting you to go to an address because he “found someone’s phone”. Seohyun was looking up the address seconds after Minjun said it out loud.

Wonhae folded his arms tightly, tense as ever. “Be careful. We’ll have eyes on the place through satellite… we can’t risk much else though.”

Minjun shook his head lightly. “At least let me tail her. What if they’re waiting in the apartment?”

You patted the young man on the shoulder. He was only a year younger than you but it was always fun teasing him. “Your big sister can handle herself.”

Seohyun chuckled but swallowed it the moment he glared at her. “Satellite footage is set. The apartment is a ten minute drive from here. It’s in the business district. Near a park and a few shopping centers.”

You grabbed your jacket and sashayed to the door. “Alright I’m gone. Don’t wait up for me. I’ve no idea what time I’ll be home tonight.”

Wonhae and Minjun both didn’t appreciate your humor. It’s why you liked having Seohyun around. She couldn’t stop herself from cracking a smile.

~:~

The apartment was clear of danger. You checked the messenger and found that Unknown had disappeared. You began to wonder if you blew your cover or not… Your leather jacket hid the gun well enough so… Had he been tracking your location through the app? Did they already know you were a cop?

But then new people began messaging, a flurry of people talking with each other. You counted the members: five. You memorized their names, too nervous to take notes in case someone watching.

You searched the apartment as secretively as you could while trying to keep an eye on the app. You couldn’t see any cameras… The computer at the desk looked fairly expensive. You rummaged through the files that were in plain view, glancing at the app as you did.

They finally noticed your presence. They were surprised though… were these five people part of the trafficking? Or were they future victims or perpetrators?

You assumed your persona, “Hello…” You kept up the act despite how puzzled they were. It seemed like you were the first one to actually break into the app… Did that mean the other victims hadn’t ever got that far? Or your cover was blown and you were redirected in some way.

They messenger seemed to be more focused on the fact that you were female rather than anything else… The only one truly suspicious was Jumin and Jaehee… 707 treated it like a joke, ZEN flirted and sent kissy faces, and Yoosung was slightly suspicious but delighted.

The username was 707 was beginning to hack into the phone. Your life depended on Seohyun’s skills. The background she created for you needed to be believable and boring if you were to make this work. Boring office worker… you could manage that. You just needed the right paper trail...

Your location at the apartment was discovered by 707 but yet he told everyone that it needed to be kept secret. They weren’t allowed to know… Something was definitely strange about the group. It had to be trafficking and this all had to be some ploy. Maybe this was their way of testing whether someone was undercover or not.

A man named V entered the chat and tried to cool some heads. V… he had to be the leader behind the trafficking. He even mentioned classified documents were scattered throughout the apartment. And further mentioned that the drawer would inform him if you snooped around.

You played along until everyone went their separate ways. You had to be careful. They asked you to stay in the apartment for now…

Fuck. You needed to report this. The app was definitely the key to everything. Seohyun needed to hack in as soon as possible. Otherwise, they would find another victim or try to take you instead.

The phone you were using for the operation began ringing. 707… You tried to play it cool. You would try to answer as calmly as you could with a smile. But before you could even say hello, Seven was making strange noises, “Rrrrrrr. Rrrrrrrr.”

Your gaze swept around the room. He had to be watching this, right?

His voice was soft and feminine, slowly speaking into the phone, “Uhm, uh… Your bank account has been used for a fun prank. Uh… were you aware of this? I must first verify your cell phone number for identification purposes, so please calmly follow the instructions.”

Your face flattened into annoyance. He couldn’t be serious… was this part of the trafficking? Was this a test? You tried to sound shocked, words frantically leaving your mouth, “Oh my gosh! What should I do? Do you want me to press my number or should I tell you? What prank was it?”

“My gullible… I mean, my good customer, please calm down. And take a deep breath. Breathe in… breathe out…”

God, you hated your job. Was this really happening? He was even starting to lose his fake female tone and returning to his regular voice...

“You must keep it together at a time like this. Now, if you’ve taken a deep breath, please go ahead and say, ‘Honey, I love you!’ You know, like how the teddy bear says it.”

You could play this game. You tried to use your sweetest voice, lips smirking all too easily as you did, “Honey, I love you!”

Seven started to chuckle uncontrollably. “Good job. Boy…” He couldn’t help but laugh between words, “You’re so cute…” He barely sobered up enough to say, “Now I will verify your phone number. Please tell me your number one by one.”

“Oh, my number…” You tried to act clueless but man, was it difficult.

“Stop! You were about to tell me your number, weren’t you? You can’t do that! There are billions of scams like this going on right now.”

“What...” This was… unexpected.

“From now on, just hang up if you receive a call like this, period. And if you’re unsure whether it’s a scam or not, just call me. Okay? I’ll check for you even if I’m busy.” Seven sounded incredibly sincere. “But with Rika’s apartment and all… you’re so gullible! You shouldn’t fall for stupid things like this!”

“Well, I mean…” You wanted to defend yourself, your pride taking a beating. Normally you wouldn’t have gone to a creepy apartment by yourself… okay that’s a lie. You still would have gone. But the precinct would have been given a heads up… kinda.

“I just called to check whether this is the right number. And you should be glad I was the one who called you. If this were real, a scary hacker could have taken all your money! The moment you receive the call, you lose your money. Okay?”

You smirked, unable to contain yourself as you teasingly retorted, “Beep, beep. We have detected criminal activity on your account…”

“What! You managed to get into a hacker's account? That’s bold!” His voice took on a sing-song tone, just as playful as ever, “But! I don’t have a bank account. My boss told me cash is the best way to make money.”

You laughed, nibbling your lower lip. Well, he certainly knew how to leave a first impression.

“Anyways, now that I’ve checked your number, I’ll let the other members know. If you get a call from this app, you’ll see their faces. So try talking to them. You’ll see them often from now on.”

“Mhm. I’ll be sure it’s them in case… of hackers.”

Seven made a childish cackle. “You never know when a scammer might call! Please take good care of the RFA. Looking forward to it! Now, bye-bye.”

You were smiling as he hung up, heart racing inside of your chest. You forced the delight out of your features. You were an undercover operative. You couldn’t get distracted. You grinned and shook you head. Still, this was going to fun a op.


	2. Chapter 2

“The group consists of six known members. At the top is V, a photographer from a rich family. Real name is Jihyun Kim.” You taped the photograph onto the glass board for the rest of your team to see. “His left hand is presumed to be Jumin Han, the son of C&R’s chairman. The two males are apparently close friends who grew up together.” You added Jumin’s photo, turning your attention to the hard stares.

“Explains why they haven’t been caught.” Woosik snarled irritably. “Rich kids with all that money and power…”

Minjun folded his hands against his mouth then added calmly, “C&R is fairly diverse. They have companies from cosmetics to produce. If they are involved… it would take a great of evidence to expose the truth.”

You held up a third picture and taped it down, “His assistant Jaehee Kang is also a member of the group. She handles most of the planning that’s involved with… the charity events.”

Woosik muttered under his breath but everyone heard it pretty clear, “Surprised his lawyer isn’t…”

“Might be…” Jihoon grinned childishly. “She’s still got more pictures to share.”

“ZEN is a musical actor. Real name Hyun Ryu. He’s the estranged son of a rich family… from my knowledge he doesn’t have contact with them or receive any funds from them.”

Minjun shifted in his seat, eyes narrowing the more he thought about it, “If he’s not getting their money… he’s using his own fame. It would be easy to lure victims or to pay people off when you’re a public figure like that.”

You taped up ZEN’s picture and then Yoosung’s. “Yoosung Kim is a college student and the youngest in the group. I haven’t determined with certainty but I think perhaps he’s being groomed for the next generation. We should probably look into the online game LOLOL to determine if anything transpires there.”

Wonhae nodded firmly, “We’ll get a tech team to look into it. He could be using the game to lure in possible targets.”

You grabbed the last picture and taped it in the middle of the group. “The most important person and I think our best target is 707, Luciel Choi. He’s a hacker that works under V’s command. From my understanding, he knows every secret about the group’s operation.”

“And he’s damn good.” Seohyun slouched in her chair a bit, grouchy about the whole matter. “I’ve spent all night trying to break through his code. It’s a tangled mess. And I’ve got a feeling I’m not the only hacker trying to get through.”

Woosik muttered bitterly, “Might be two syndicates going at each other for territory. If we can infiltrate their ranks, distract them with each other… we might stand a chance.”

You nodded, lips thinning, “Also, I don’t believe ‘Luciel’ to be his real name. The group doesn’t seem to know any facts about him…”

Wonhae stood up and paced the room. “Alright. Stick with what we’re doing.” His eyes weighed heavily on you. “Get closer to this hacker character. Find out what he knows. Seohyun. We need inside this app. Find out where these people operate. The rest of you… silent investigation on the charity members. We need to know what they eat, where they work out, where they get their coffee, everything.”

 

~:~

 

You opened the app on the way back to the apartment. You read through the chat log you missed during the debriefing. It was hard to figure these people out. It was clear something was going on behind the scenes. Was V secretly using the RFA to do harm… If he was, Seven, the man with all the secrets would be in on it as well…

Speaking of the man...  You answered right away and put the phone to your ear. “Babababam! Baamm!” He was so loud and energetic like a delighted child. If he weren’t a criminal you might have found him cute. “Seven zero seven safety check system activated!”

“Hello to you too, Seven.” You keyed in the apartment code on the door lock and opened it.

“In the namesake of security, please answer all questions honestly…”

“Mhm…” You smirked at another of his silly games. You had to admit, he was never boring. “I love answering all of your insanely adorable questions.”

“Adorable…” He cleared his throat, flustered but determined to stay on task, “While you were out, did you happen to notice anyone suspicious? Is there anyone outside standing watch over the building?”

“How did…” You froze in the doorway and glanced around the room. You swore you checked for cameras inside the apartment and didn't find any. Your eyes jolted wide. You didn't check the hallway. You stepped out into hall and glanced around.

“Ah!” He giggled. “You're wondering to yourself, how does God Seven know I left the apartment? Is he watching me?” He managed to maintain his tone of voice, playful and somewhat robotic, “Of course not… I wish I could tell you, but that would be a lie.”

“You've been watching me?” You saw the camera plain as day in the corner of the hall. You sashayed over towards it and waved your fingers in greeting.

“Oh! I’ve spotted a rare, adorable creature just now!”

Damn that man knew just how to make you grin.

He released a heavy sigh, strangely serious compared to his usual self. “I can't be certain the hacker isn't still after you. I've only been keeping an eye on the building…. but I'm hacking the cameras in the area as we speak.”

That would make… returning to the station difficult.

You smirked at him through the camera, voice suddenly sultry and teasing, “You didn't install any cameras in my bathroom, did you?”

He gasped dramatically. “The Defender of Justice, God7, would never commit such a heinous crime.”

You waggled your eyebrows at him. “Thanks for watching over me then… God Seven…” You blew a playful kiss to him then waltzed back into the apartment as if it were nothing.

He cleared his throat, stammering, “O-only doing what needs to be done… Now, work calls upon its humble slave… Don't forget to eat three meals a day and look out for anyone suspicious. Later!” He hung up before you could even say goodbye.

You couldn’t help but laugh. Man, was he cute… it was too bad he was under investigation. You enjoyed talking to him way more than you should ever admit.

The real problem… was he really following you because of the hacker or did… he know? Were you compromised already? No… no you didn’t think so. You would have definitely felt more under threat. Unless your feelings for him were clouding your thoughts. If he really was keeping you safe from the hacker then… didn’t that mean Seven wasn’t a bad person?

You hurried to the bathroom and closed the door. You made a phone call to Seohyun while turning the shower on. You hoped the water would drown out any listening ears that might be hidden in the apartment.

“Hello?” She was calm and sweet as usual.

“Seven has a camera set up in the hallway. He's keeping track of where I'm going… I won't be able to make a safe return to the station. Tell me you've found something.”

“Well… remember that person you mentioned? Rika?”

“The founder?”

She hummed in agreement. “Well, her ‘suicide’ is very… unusual. According to our records and her adopted parents… Rika isn't dead. They swear up and down she's still alive.”

You rolled your eyes. “Don't… all parents in grief make that statement?”

“Well, even stranger, they didn't attend the funeral. They say she's very ill… mentally and faked a suicide. They claim to have spoken with her at one point but don't know any way to reach her. Like she’s gone off grid.”

Your brows furrowed, wheels turning. Why would someone fake their death unless… they felt like they were in danger. “Is it possible she faked a suicide in order to escape the members of the RFA?”

“We can't be sure. Not until we find her.”

“Damn it…”

“Keep up your cover and I'll relay your information to Wonhae.”

“Yeah, sure. Let the boss know he owes me big time. I'm surrounded by all kinds of crazy and conspiracy.” You hung up the phone and moved toward the kitchen.

Seven was warming up to you and talking with him in the messenger was easy enough. But you still hadn't solved the puzzle. They hadn't made an attempt to drug and sell you yet… and everyone was too caught up in the future party to talk about anything incriminating.

But at least they didn’t suspect you. In fact, either they were stupidly trusting or they were pretending to be naive. They shared a great deal about their personal lives as if you were a person they had known for years… Could they really be the ones behind all the kidnappings? Or was there some larger player at force behind everything.

You accessed the messenger and reviewed the recent chat room. You kept looking for any hints the members might have been giving each other. Zen and Yoosung we’re talking about hanging out together… perhaps it was a secret meeting but it just seemed too far fetched.

Jumin and Jaehee were always together… perhaps they were capable of dealing with the darker sides of the operation. They did seem… stoic and reserved. Jumin with all the power and money to pull it off. Jaehee was smart, too. And she seemed to only work for him to make money…

Seven was the strangest of them. His emotions was just as varied, a rollercoaster of energetic highs with slopes of depression. It wasn’t entirely his fault. He worked for someone as a hacker… spending day and night doing their countless tasks, getting little to no sleep and eating snacks as meals.

To say the least, you felt sorry for him.

A new chat room opened up with Seven. You joined him, not even able to type a greeting before he shouted your name in giant letters. Man, was he energetic today! He added just as boldly, “You’re here!! Are you safe?”

Safe? Your brows pinched. “Yes. Why? Is something wrong?”

“I can’t explain in detail… but you’re in danger right now…” He was typing so quickly and so strangely you reread his messages twice. “From this second, don’t ever move from the apartment. Something really bad might happen!!!”

He played tricks a lot of the time but this… was different. He wasn’t the same jokester you remembered from previous days or the sentimental one in the early mornings. This was serious.

You needed more info. What was dangerous? Or was this… were they finally making a move to kidnap you… You played along as best you could, mind racing. “What???”

“I’ll explain when I get there. I’ll go there right now so just stay still. Until I get there DONT EVER MOVE!! There’s a problem with the apartment security system. I’m gonna go and fix it.”

“You’re coming here?” Was this part of their plan… Shit, you looked around the apartment for something related to a security system… anything.

“Yes. I’ll do whatever it takes to get there so just trust me… God;; I have to leave right now because of Vanderwood… I’ll come back… so just trust me and hang in there.”

“Seven! Wait!”

“Sorry. I have to go. Just hang in there!” He signed out without another word, your eyes locked on the screen. Just hang in there?

Your work phone started flashing. You answered without a second thought. Seohyun frantically shouted, “Are you alright? Answer me.”

“Yes… I mean, for now I guess. Something happened.”

“No kidding. So, apparently, the other hacker… the one trying to hack into the RFA server… he must have done something to the apartments security.”

“Yeah, I’m aware. Seven is headed over to fix the problem. So… that means there really is something wrong? Can you tell me what exactly this… security system is?”

“Well, it didn’t alert the police. That much I know.”

Minjun spoke up, words a little strained as he spoke, “We think it might be… a countermeasure. Maybe something explosive.”

“Fuck…” You raked your fingers through your hair. “I can’t leave the apartment. Seven told me if I try to leave, it’ll be dangerous.”

Seohyun tried to sound sweet, “That’s… what we’ve gathered. I’m working on hacking in and deactivating it but… damn it, he’s too… good. If he weren’t a criminal I’d suggest hiring him.”

Wonhae was the calm voice of reason, deep and baritone, “Let’s first focus on what we need to get done now. You stay put and keep us informed. I want to know the moment that man Seven shows up. I’ll have bomb squad on standby just in case.”

“Boss…” You steadied yourself as best you could. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve gotten out of worse scenarios.”

“I know. It’s why I sent you.”

You hung up without further hesitation. You would have to trust your team to get you out unscathed. You would have to trust Seven.  



End file.
